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Network Highlights

Working Together to Increase Evidence-Based Strategies in Communities

In March, 2009, CPCRN's network centers came together to collaborate at the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) Academy in Seattle, Washingon. CPCRN members from CDC, Emory University, University of California, University of Texas, University of Washington, and Washington University in Saint Louis came together to deliver a training program entitled "Designing Chronic Disease Programs that Work" to increase the use of evidence-based interventions and strategies in communities.

CPCRN members at NACDD training
Above, left to right: University of Texas' Maria Fernandez, Emory University's Cam Escoffery, UCLA's Ritesh Mistry, Washington University's Debbie Pfeiffer, University of Washington's Peggy Hannon, CDC's Kathi Wilson, Emory University's Michelle Carvalho, and Zul Surani of California's Cancer Information Service at March's NACDD training

 

CPCRN Consortium Supports Faith Communities Joined for Health

Building Evidence-base Action into Community Outreach Networks (BEACON), the CPCRN at Washington University in St. Louis, initiated Faith Communities Joined for Health, a regional consortium to build capacity, leverage resources, and provide technical assistance to help local Black churches adopt and implement Body & Soul, an evidence-based intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intake among African Americans. Founding partners include the American Cancer Society, Urban League, Deaconess Parish Nurse Ministries, Lane Cancer Coalition, St. Louis County Department of Health, and NCI’s Cancer Information Service-Heartland Region.

The consortium membership spans three states (Missouri, Illinois, Kansas) and has developed a support system for dissemination and implementation, a toolkit of local resources, an assessment of readiness to adopt Body & Soul, and step-by-step guidelines for dissemination. To date, one BEACON partner has implemented the program, 10 have agreed to implement it, 32 have attended training to learn how to implement it, and a group of three partners has made plans to disseminate Body & Soul to 100 churches in metropolitan St. Louis, MO. Community partners poised to implement Body & Soul will train their respective church teams in July and are planning kick-off events for late summer 2009.

 

Saint Louis CPCRN Trains the Trainers in Eliminating Cancer Disparities

Clinical Trials Education Series (CTES) is a resource that was developed by NCI to help the public, patients and health care professionals learn about clinical trials. To increase its use and benefit in our region, BEACON convened a series of meetings with the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (an NCI-funded Community Networks Program at the Siteman Cancer Center) and the Center for Community-based Research at our CTSA. BEACON has simplified the content of the CTES train-the trainer program, and customized the presentation for three target audiences: investigators and providers, the general public, and outreach workers conducting minority recruitment into clinical trials. Three BEACON community partners participated in the pilot training and will recruit their partners to also receive and provide the training.  Three 3-hour training sessions were held and completed over a two-week period in mid May 2009.